Arsenal 4-2 Leicester: Red hot Gabriel Jesus scores a brace on his home debut

Shortly after Gabriel Jesus’ opening goal, the first of four he scored or created on this record-breaking afternoon, cameras inside the Emirates panned to the stands.

There sat Edu, the Gunners’ technical director, struggling to hide the smirk on his face. These are the afternoons that prove the importance of jobs like his. That show the value of smart, smooth transfer business.

We are still in August, granted, but already it feels hard to overstate the devastating impact of Jesus’ £45million arrival.

Gabriel Jesus scored twice for Arsenal on his home debut after a £45million summer move

The Brazilian forward curled a fantastic opener before heading in a second at the back post

Never before had an Arsenal player scored twice on their home Premier League debut. Only once had someone netted two and assisted two in the same Premier League game for the club. And still the forward was frustrated with his lot.

It mattered little – Arsenal’s perfect start to the season goes on thanks to another injection of quality and nous from new blood.

Oleksandr Zinchenko was also excellent, the £32m signing operating as both a left back and a creative midfielder in the same game. Fabio Vieira, signed for £34m, is still to come.

‘A big performance,’ Mikel Arteta said. ‘I’m delighted.’

Leicester, meanwhile, are paying the price for a barren summer. After Jesus’ first-half double, they were staring down the barrel. Brendan Rodgers’ did threaten to nick something after the break – clawing the score back to 2-1 and 3-2 thanks to a couple of gifts from Arsenal.

Beyond that, though, they were second best. Is it any wonder? Until Friday, Leicester were the only club in Europe’s top five leagues not make a senior summer signing. And what difference would ex-Cardiff goalkeeper Alex Smithies, picked up for free, have made here? Except, perhaps, to hold on to Ben White’s cross on 55 minutes. Instead, Danny Ward – starting following the departure of Kasper Schmeichel – dropped it at the feet of Jesus, who fed Granit Xhaka to make it 3-1.

New Leicester No 1 Danny Ward had an afternoon to forget at the Emirates Stadium

That came moments after William Saliba’s own goal had halved Arsenal’s lead. The same pattern repeated itself later on, when Aaron Ramsdale allowed James Maddison’s shot to squeeze through his legs, only for Gabriel Martinelli to score Arsenal’s fourth within a minute.

‘Anyone can see today with Jesus that when you bring in a world class player, it’s not just what he brings to the team. It’s what a new signing gives to everyone else in terms of confidence,’ Rodgers said. ‘Zinchenko and Jesus are coming out of a winning environment where they look after themselves, train every day like dogs to be the best they can. That spills onto the rest of the team.

Even the Leicester boss could see the uncomfortable contrast with his own squad.

‘That’s the thing you miss. It’s what a new player brings to the others. If you bring in quality it galvanises the others. You always look to recycle and improve the squad,’ Rodgers added.

The bleeding could yet get worse for Leicester, should Wesley Fofana join Chelsea and Youri Tielemans move here. ‘You’re going to play for the Arsenal,’ sang home supporters who rose to serenade the midfielder when he was substituted in the second half.

News that Fofana had agreed personal terms with Chelsea emerged on Saturday lunchtime. If that ended the defender’s hopes of a quiet afternoon, the opening exchanges at the Emirates only brightened the spotlight’s glare. Early on, he was at the heart of almost everything – at both ends. 

Granit Xhaka (right) scored Arsenal’s third of the game after Danny Ward’s error in goal

Jesus was on song on his home debut for Arsenal, scoring twice and setting up two more

Arsenal ‘keeper Aaron Ramsdale conceded two goals but also pulled off some vital saves

Not least when, after just three minutes, the centre back nipped in to rob Granit Xhaka inside Arsenal territory. Fofana exchanged passes with Vardy and drove into the box, where he was denied only by Ramsdale.

Arsenal soon took control and they should have led when Xhaka headed on to the post. But Jesus ensured Mikel Arteta’s side didn’t have to wait much longer to kick-start their season at home.

His first goal combined ingenuity with a dash of good fortune. Inside the area, from a standing start and with several defenders around him, Jesus sent a curling effort towards the far corner. It found its home, with the help of a very slight deflection.

Leicester had even more of a hand in his second. From an Arsenal corner, Vardy flicked the ball towards the back post, where Jesus was waiting to finish.

Quite remarkably, it meant Jesus had taken 125 minutes to score as many non-penalty Premier League goals as Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal’s previous No 9, managed during the whole of last season.

Jesus really should have surpassed the Frenchman by half-time.

Leicester defender Wesley Fofana (right) has reportedly agreed personal terms with Chelsea

Gabriel Martinelli scored Arsenal’s fourth goal of the game and his second of the season

First, the striker did brilliantly to turn Jonny Evans on the edge of the box, only for Wilfred Ndidi’s last-ditch challenge to save Leicester.

Then, a neat move involving Zinchenko, Martin Odegaard, Martinelli and Jesus ended with the No 9 through on goal. Ward thwarted him this time.

But just as Arsenal threatened to kill this game, a lifeline for Leicester. Vardy chased a ball in behind, Ramsdale met him on the corner of the box, the striker went down. Penalty. Briefly, anyway. Replays showed referee Darren England that there was no contact and the decision was overturned.

In the second half, Leicester did cut the deficit. Twice. Twice they were fortunate. Twice they were charitable enough to hand back the initiative almost immediately.

First Saliba headed past his own goalkeeper from a long ball, before Ward fumbled White’s cross, allowing Xhaka to score.

And then after Maddison made it 3-2 with 16 minutes to go, Martinelli made sure of three points.

Re-live all the drama from the clash below with live commentary from Sportsmail’s LEWIS BROWNING…